Global Science Outlook

What issues top the global science agenda for 2017? For leaders from the scientific community, a few important themes include: the indispensable role of public sector-driven fundamental research, and the importance of public engagement and education to secure the future of science.

No one is better positioned to give an overview of American science priorities than France Córdova, Director of the National Science Foundation (NSF), USA. She says the NSF has identified six “big ideas” on which it is now focusing. The first of these overlaps perfectly with one of the main themes of this year’s Annual Meeting, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and the way in which humans will both shape technology – particularly artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced robotics – and be shaped by it. Investments in social and behavioural sciences will be critical, says Córdova, to understand how that mutual impact will play out.

The second area she terms “Navigating the New Arctic” and will involve the application of new technologies including autonomous sensors and 3D printing to gather the data that will enable policy-makers to better understand how the Arctic is being impacted by climate change, and will, in turn impact the rest of the world. “What happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic,” she says.

A third area of focus will be in cybersecurity and communications, and specifically on how new discoveries in quantum physics and new insights into the exotic properties of the subatomic world will impact computing.

Big data and the emerging science of data analytics will receive significant NSF funding and attention, Córdova indicates, as will two final areas. One is a set of areas of inquiry grouped under the rubric “Rules of Life”, which will explore issues like the actual mechanisms by which genotype (the actual genetic code) is expressed in phenotype, or observable physical properties of organisms; and the mechanisms of photosynthesis, which at present is only about 2% efficient in its conversion of sunlight to energy, compared to man-made solar cells, which are about 20% efficient.

The other area will be in astrophysics – Córdova’s own field – where efforts will focus on solving the mystery of the 95% of the universe comprised of dark energy and dark matter. Particle detectors, the new neutrino detector at the South Pole, and the gravitational wave detectors that made news in 2016 will all be deployed toward a better understanding of the physical universe.

Fabiola Gianotti, Director-General at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva, says that only government funding could have made possible the kinds of truly paradigm-shifting scientific discoveries in areas like quantum mechanics that CERN has helped generate. She stresses that this kind of fundamental research has a direct impact on society, and not only in the long term; the cutting-edge technologies that it requires to function are important stimuli for research in other areas as well. For the fruits of that research to really matter, it is vitally important, Gianotti says, to share results and make it accessible across the scientific community. Equally important is science education, relying on open-source hardware and open-source software to train scientists and future scientists at all levels and all ages.

Marc N. Casper, President and Chief Executive Officer, Thermo Fisher Scientific, USA, notes that areas like precision medicine – treatments tailored to individuals based on their actual genetic profile – are particularly exciting if still nascent. He underscores the critical role of the private sector in advocating for funding for groups like the NSF and the National Institutes of Health. He warns that funding for these organizations has been “more muted” and hints that worse may be to come.

Sung-Mo Steve Kang, President of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Republic of Korea, points out that exciting developments in brain science will be relevant to engineers, who are studying living systems to make advances in their own fields. He stresses that science needs to show tangible results to the people who ultimately fund it – as in Korea, during the avian flu epidemic, which hit the poultry sector particularly hard. Micro- and nano sensors deployed among avian populations would go far, he says, in understanding the transmission of the disease, alert people to outbreaks, and save massive amounts of money by making indiscriminate culls unnecessary.

Kang also highlights a programme launched by KAIST, the Grand Challenge 30, under which KAIST will support selected scientists for 30 years, eliminating the need for them to search for alternative sources of funding and allowing them to focus on long-term research projects.

All important is science’s relationship with the public. Scientists, Córdoba suggests, need to better explain the processes by which they arrive at discoveries, arguing that this will go far to close the gap with the public. Good science communication can show how science can be used in the policy world to make evidence-based decisions.

Finally, public engagement and educational activity need to start figuring in more prominently to hiring decisions. Right now, career advancement in the sciences is based too heavily on published papers in peer-reviewed journals. It should include other factors, like successes in science communication, and in other good behaviours like excellence in lab leadership.